Pool ball



April 22, 1969 c. J. GENTILE 3,439,917

POOL BALL Filed April 5, 1965 FIC32 INVENTOR CHARLES J. GEA/T/ L E ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,439,917 POOL BALL Charles I. Gentile, 511 Seven Oaks Road, Orange, NJ. 07050 Filed Apr. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 445,467 lnt Cl. A63b 37/00 US. Cl. 273-59 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A pool ball is formed by injection-molding a contrasting outer layer to a pre-molded blank having an equatorial band and diametrically opposed polar portions. The equatorial band includes recesses from the bottom of which numeral forming projections extend upwardly to the height of the equatorial band. The sidewalls of the recesses include channels communicating with the outer surfaces of the polar portions. The contrasting layer of molding material covers the polar portions and fills the recesses and channels to the height of the equatorial band.

My invention relates to multi-colored, numeralled pool balls, wherein a pair of colored numerals appear on the surface of the ball on opposite sides thereof Within a band of the same color, the numerals lying in a generally circular background of contrasting color with the band separating partial hemispheres of the contrasting color.

In addition, my invention relates to an intermediate blank adapted for use in a pool ball.

Pool balls numbered one through eight inclusive, are solid colored with the respective numerals lying on opposite sides thereof. The number may be the same color as the ball lying in a circular white background or may be black lying in the mass of the colored ball. Pool balls numbered nine through fifteen inclusive, are preferably white having an equatorial band of a contrasting color, the colors being the same as those of balls one through seven respectively, the black of the eight ball being omitted.

By tradition, an oflicial or properly designed pool ball bearing numerals nine through fifteen inclusive, carries the numeral on a circular white background on dia metrically opposed sides of the ball within the colored band. Such a ball conforms with accepted standards and traditions of the game.

Known pool balls bearing numerals nine through fifteen, however, place the numeral in the white cap-portion which are separated by the equatorial band. Such pool balls are not in accordance with accepted tradition and standards of the game and are not well accepted in the trade. Moreover, the means for producing such a ball are extremely complicated and comprises the molding of a pair of separate, whitened caps, having the numeral cut out, inserting the caps on opposite sides of a mold cavity and thereafter injecting a colored plastic into the cavity between the caps, the plastic flowing into the numeral cut-out and bonding the caps to the central colored plastic.

Therefore, it is among the objects and advantages of my invention to provide pool balls in which a pair of colored numerals appear on diametrically opposite sides of the ball in a white, circular background located within an equatorial band of the same color as the numeral, the band separating a pair of white, partially hemispherical portions.

A further object of my invention is to provide a premolded pool ball blank comprising an equatorially radially enlarged spheriod defined by a radially enlarged, equatorial band having a spherical surface and parallel, cirice cular outer edges separating a pair of integral opposed spherical surfaces having a radius of curvature smaller than the radius of curvature of the equatorial band.

Yet a further object of my, invention is to provide pool balls in which the aforesaid radially enlarged equatorial band of the spheriod blank is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed, generally circular, radially reduced areas communicating with the radially reduced spherical surfaces each by a pair of radially reduced channels.

Still another object of my invention is to provide pool balls in which the aforesaid pre-molded blank is provided with integral numerals within the aforesaid radially reduced circular areas, the external surfaces of the numerals lying within the spherical plane of the band.

Yet still another object of my invention is to provide pool balls in which the aforesaid pre-molded blank comprises a solid colored sphere having a pair of diametrically opposed, generally circular, reduced areas with radially enlarged integral numerals formed therein, the surface of the numerals lying within the spherical plane of the blank.

Still yet a further object of my invention is to provide pool balls in Which the pre-molded blank comprises a sphere having a pair of diametrically opposed, radially reduced or undercut numerals in its spherical surface.

These objects and advantages as well as other objects and advantages may be achieved by use of my pre-molded blanks which are illustrated in the drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view in perspective of a colored, premolded equatorially, radially enlarged blank;

FIG. 2 is a top-plan view of one side of an injection mold with my blank illustrated in FIGURE 1 seated in each of a pair of spherical cavities.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, my invention contemplates the pre-molding in colored plastic of a blank such as those illustrated in FIGURE 1 from some suitable plastic, such as high density polystyrene. The blank itself is injection molded by any well-known technique which need not be described in detail further.

In the manufacture of pool balls bearing numerals nine through fifteen inclusive, a blank such as that illustrated in FIGURE 1 is pro-molded.

Referring now specifically to the manufacture of pool balls bearing numerals nine through fifteen, a blank 11 such as that illustrated in FIGURE 1 is pre-rnolded. The blank 11 is a solid, integral member of colored plastic and it comprises a radially enlarged equatorial band 12 having a spherical surface corresponding to a central segment of a solid sphere. The equatorial band separates a pair of diametrically opposed, radially reduced partially hemispherical surfaces 13 and 14 corresponding to polar segments of a solid sphere. The demarcation between the equatorial band 12 and each of the partially hemispherical surfaces 13 and 14 is an annular band 15. The annular bands 15-15 define a pair of sharp parallel circular edges 1616 with the equatorial band 12.

The equatorial band 12 is provided with a pair of diametrically opposed, radially reduced circular areas 1717 located symmetrically about the equator of the band. The circular, radially reduced areas 17--17 are each connected to the respective, partially hemispherical surfaces 13-14 by means of inter-connecting radially reduced channels 18 and 19 respectively. For convenience, the radius of curvature of the circular area 17 and the channels 18 and 19 may be approximately equal to the radius of curvature of the partially hemispherical surfaces 13 and 14.

A radially enlarged numeral 20 (illustrated as numeral fifteen in FIGURE 1) is formed integral with the blank 11 within the opposed circular areas 17. The top surface of the numeral 20 lies within the spherical plane of the radially enlarged equatorial band 12. In addition, the numerals 2020 are so formed as to provide no entrapped areas separated from the radially reduced circular areas 17-17.

After the pre-molded blank 11 has been prepared, it is seated within a spherical injection mold cavit 21. For convenience in positioning the blank 11 in the cavity 21, a pair of integral positioning detents 2222 may be formed on the blank 11. White molten plastic is then forced through feed channels 23 in the injection mold to fill the interstice 24 between the cavity 21 and the radially reduced, partially hemispherical surfaces 13 and 14 f the blank 11. The molten material also flows through the channels 19 and 18 to fill-the radially reduced circular areas 17 filling in all portions of that area surrounding the numeral 20. The plastic injected through feed conduits 23 is white and bonds to the colored blank 11 thereby forming the finished product having an equatorial colored band separating a pair of diametrically opposed, partially hemispherical white end surfaces. In addition, the colored numeral is surrounded by a White circular background and the white circular background joins the white hemispherical surfaces 13-14 by a pair of white channels 18 and 19. The entire finished ball withdrawn from the injection mold cavity 21 is perfectly spherical with the exception of the detents 2222 which may be removed by any one of a number of well-known methods.

The foregoing description is merely intended to illustrate an embodiment of the invention. The component parts have been shown and described. They each may have substitutes which may perform a substantially similar function; such substitutes may be known as proper substitutes for the said components and may have actually been known or invented before the present invention; these substitutes are contemplated as being within the scope of the appended claims, although they are not specifically catalogued herein.

I claim:

1. A pool ball component comprising,

a central portion, and two diametrically opposed end portions, each of said end portions having the shape of a polar segment of a solid sphere having a predetermined diameter, said central portion having the shape of a central sement of a solid sphere having a diameter greater than said predetermined diameter, the relative arrangement of said portions being such that the spherical surfaces of the polar portions intersect the respective sides of said central portion, a pair of diametrically opposed cavities in the spherical outer surface of said central portion, said cavities having side walls and bottom surfaces, pool hall numeral forming projections extending upward from the bottom surface of each of said cavities to a height coplanar with the outer spherical surface of said central portion, said projections being spaced inwardly of the side walls of said cavities, the connection characteristics of said end portions, central portion and numeral forming projections corresponding to those resulting from all of said portions and pro jections having been simultaneously integrally formed in a one step molding operation, at least one passageway extending through at least one sidewall of each of said cavities to provide communication between said cavities and the outer surface of at least one of said end portions whereby molding material may flow from the outer surfaces of said end portions through said passageways and around the projections in said cavities to form a billiard ball.

2. A pool ball including the pool hall component recited in claim 1 and,

a solid overlay material filling said cavities and passageways and covering the outer surfaces of said polar end portions to a height coplanar with the outer surface of said central portion, the color of said overlay material contrasting with the color of said central portion, end portions and numeral forming projections.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 517,972 4/1894 Burt 27359 3,228,686 1/1966 Faulkner 27359 FOREIGN PATENTS 521,056 5/1940 Great Britain.

GEORGE J. MARLO, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R. 

